Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Latest Oz Short Story

When I first started reading "Dead Blue" by David Farland (the most recent story that I read from Oz Reimagined), my first thought was, "Oh, no, not another writer who thinks the Tin Woodman is a robot." But it turns out Farland truly embraced the whole idea of an alternative Oz, as this is a cyberpunk version of Oz. The Tin Woodman is a cyborg, and in context it not only makes sense, it also fits in well with his origin story in the novel. This version of Oz doesn't have witches and wizards, it has technomages, who fuse magic with cutting edge technology. It seems Dorothy's adventures were very similar to what we all know, until she manages to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. Then it gets very different, but in a logical way. Despite this being a very different Oz, I wouldn't mind seeing someone take a crack at adapting it (and expanding this story) into a comic, or a funky anime-influenced cartoon. Just so long as everyone understands that this isn't the original Oz, of course.

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